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Handle-Hand Compatibility Effects for the Right and Left Hand Using Reach-to-Touch Movements
No full textIn stimulus-response compatibility tasks, performance is better when the handle of an object is oriented on the same side of the response than when the handle is oriented on the opposite side. Two major alternative accounts, the motor affordance and spatial accounts, have been proposed to explain this handle-hand compatibility effect. In two experiments, we tested between these two accounts by administering a go/no-go task to right-handed participants. Handled objects presented on a touchscreen were used as stimuli. Half of the participants had to reach-to-touch the stimuli by using their dominant hand, the other half by using their nondominant hand. Lift- off times (LTs), movement times (MTs) and spatial coordinates of the movement endpoints were recorded. Results from the LTs and MTs analyses showed no evidence of handle-hand compatibility effects. In contrast, the analyses of the spatial coordinates revealed that participants' touches were shifted more laterally towards the handle when the handles were oriented on the same side of the responding hand (Experiments 1 and 2). Furthermore, the right-hand touches landed higher (towards the handle) than the left-hand touches, especially when the vertical object dimension was particularly salient (Experiment 1). Overall, these results are in line with the activation of hand motor programs to reach and grasp the object as predicted by the motor account, at least for the right/dominant hand
Syntax matters in shaping sensorimotor activation driven by nouns
Get PDFExisting evidence has shown that adjectives modulate the grasp-compatibility effect elicited by object nouns. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of syntax on the sensorimotor activation elicited by nouns in a grasp-compatibility task. We assessed two languages with different syntactic rules, Italian in Experiment 1 and English in Experiment 2. In both experiments, an adjective-noun pair was shown on the screen. The adjective was always in a pre-nominal position and denoted either a disadvantageous quality of the object graspability (e.g., sharp) or the object colour (e.g., reddish). Participants had to categorize the object nouns as natural or artifact, performing a precision or a power reach-to-grasp movement. On different trials, the grasp response was compatible or incompatible with the grip typically used to manipulate the object indicated by the noun. In Experiment 1 (Italian language) the adjective-noun order violated the syntactic order and no difference emerged between reaction times on compatible and incompatible trials (no grasp compatibility effect). In Experiment 2 (English language), the adjective-noun order followed the syntactic rule. Results showed a grasp-compatibility effect when a colour adjective was presented before a natural object noun. When a disadvantageous adjective preceded an artifact or a natural object noun, an inverted grasp-compatibility effect emerged with slower responses on compatible than incompatible trials. Taken together, these findings suggest that adjectives can shape the sensorimotor activation elicited by nouns of graspable objects only when the syntax is correct. Results are discussed with respect to embodied cognition theories
Visual similarity modulates visual size contrast
No full textPerception is relational: object properties are perceived in comparison with their spatiotemporal context rather than absolutely. This principle predicts well known contrast effects: For instance, the same sphere will feel smaller after feeling a larger sphere and larger after feeling a smaller sphere (the Uznadze effect). In a series of experiments, we used a visual version of the Uznadze effect to test whether constrast effects can be modulated by higher-level factors, such as the similarity between the contrasting inducer stimulus and the contrasted induced stimulus. Our results suggest that the answer is positive for some dimensions of similarity, but not all. In particular, we report that size contrast is weaker for inducer-inducing pairs having the same shape but different colors, in comparison to the same color; for pairs having the same color, but different shape in comparison to the same shape; but that size constrast is unaffected by dissimilarity in orientation of gratings embedded in similar shapes. These findings complement related work in haptics (Kappers & Tiest, 2014) in suggesting that relational determination in perception can recruit high-level factors
Children with autistic spectrum disorder can imagine actions— what can this reveal about the Broken Mirror Hypothesis?
Get PDFObjective: This study investigated whether children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can imagine object directed actions similarly to their typically developed (TD) peers. Study design: We tested the ability to imagine goal directed actions in children with ASD (n = 18) and TD (n = 18) peers by means of VMIQ-2 questionnaire and a novel behavioral task, in which children were requested to imagine some daily actions, after seeing them through videoclips presented on a computer screen. Observed actions lasted 4 s and children were requested to follow the same time course during imagination. During this motor imagery (MI) task, children were interrupted at a specific timepoint (e.g., at 1.5 s) from the beginning of the task. Afterwards, they had to select one of two frames extracted from the videoclips: one showed the correct timepoint at which the imagined action was stopped, the other depicted an earlier or later timepoint. Children had to press the key associated to the correct frame to provide their responses. Results: Both groups performed similarly in the questionnaire and in the novel MI task, where they showed the same error rate. Errors distribution suggests that all children exploited a similar strategy to solve the task, being errors mainly distributed in judging the later frame. Conclusion: These findings support the view that children with ASD can imagine actions similarly to their TD peers. These results do not fully support the Broken Mirror Hypothesis and may encourage the use of MI as a cognitive strategy in the rehabilitation of autism
Studio sulla correlazione tra pigmentazione del trabecolato sclerale ed efficacia della A.L.T. (argon laser trabeculoplastica).
No full textIn soggetti affetti da glaucoma cronico semplice, non compensato con terapia farmacologica massimale, gli AA valutano l' efficacia del trattamento laser angolare (A.L.T.) evidenziando l' importanza della pigmentazione del trabecolato in funzione della riuscita del trattamento
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Children with Cerebral Palsy can imagine actions like their normally developed peers
Get PDFThe present study aimed at assessing whether children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) can imagine object directed actions similarly to their normally developed peers. We asked children with CP (n = 12) and paired healthy controls (n = 12) to imagine in first person perspective eight daily actions, after observing them through videoclips presented on a computer screen. During motor imagery (MI) children were interrupted at a specific timepoint (e.g., at 2.5 s) from the start. Two frames extracted from the videoclips were then presented on the screen. One of the two depicted the correct timepoint at which the imagined action was interrupted, while the other represented an earlier or later timepoint. Children had to respond by pressing the key associated to the correct frame. Children also underwent VMIQ-2 questionnaire. Both groups performed similarly in the questionnaire and in the requested task, where they showed the same error rate. Errors mainly concerned the later frame, suggesting a similar strategy to solve the task in the two groups. The results support the view that children with CP can imagine actions similarly to their normally developed peers. This encourages the use of MI as a rehabilitative tool in children with motor impairment
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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